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PERSONAL STORIES

A smiling woman

Mary - Wessex MS Therapy Centre

Mary was diagnosed with MS in 2001 while working in a busy kitchen and raising a young family. 

I was out walking and my right leg suddenly stopped working. It came back after about half an hour. I went to the doctor about it and mentioned a few other symptoms I was having. 

Getting the MS diagnosis felt bizarre. It was my eldest son’s 19th birthday and I was about to start my MS journey. I was upset at first but then I had a talk with myself and thought, well at least it’s not cancer, I can deal with this. 

I was working in a hotel kitchen and I had an accident with a large pan of soup and burned myself. I lost confidence after that and gave up working. I had a major relapse in 2016 that took me three months to recover from. My legs were pretty much gone after that and I’ve been on a mobility scooter ever since. 

The loss of mobility has been the biggest impact for me. I miss not being able to walk around and do things like gardening, but I can still do most things from my scooter. It doesn’t stop me from still having a giggle with an old school friend. There are ways of doing most things if you remain positive. I still go swimming every week and have even done 3 parachute jumps and been zip lining!

My youngest child was only 1 when I was diagnosed. I have three other children – they had to grow up pretty quickly and I think my MS has made them more empathic. They certainly like the blue badge for parking!

I’m really lucky to have lots of good people around me. I’ve been visiting the Wessex MS Therapy Centre regularly for many years and I love it. I feel very lucky in lots of ways and I’m good at keeping my spirits up.

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